Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-12-02

terlng staff, and Tidlng Slowly uuNH INC
lines of her battalions And as she went
on. that mighty. laundering shout rolled
along before her like the rolling OF ten
thousand chariots. or the roaring OF the
ocean when the gale turns suddenly ana
carries the noise of il to the listener ears.
till the earth shook, and the ar was IuIl OF
the majesty of sound.
Guessin; that this was a prelude to the
beginning of the battle we remained still
and made ready.
We had not long to wait. Suddenly,
like fame from a lannon's mouth, out
shot two great tOngue-like forces of cayaI-
~. and came charging down the slope to-
ward the little stream, slowly at irst, put
gathering speed as they came. Before
they got to the stream orders reached me
from Sir Henry, who evidently feared that
the shock of such a charge, If allowed 10
fall unbroken upon our infantry, would be
too much for them, to send five thousand
sabres to meet the force opposite to me, at
the moment when il began TO mount the
stiffest of the rise abOut four hundred
yards from our lines. This did, remain
ing behind myself with the rest OF my men,
of went the five thousand hOrsemen,
drawn up in a wedge-like form, and must
say that the general in command handled
them very ablv Starting Mt hand-gaI-
lop. for the first three hundred yards, he
rode straight at the tip or the tongue-Shap-
ed mass Of cavalry, which numbering, 50
j
sabrcs was advancing to meet us. Thea
he suddenly swcrvcd to the right and put
on the pace, and | saw the great wedge
curl round. and before the foe could check
himself and turn to meet II, strike nm
about halfway down his length. with
crashing. rcnding sound, like the breaking
up Of vast sheets Of ice. In sank the great
wedge, into his heart, and as il cut its way
hundreds Of hOrscmen were thrown up on
either side Of il, just as the earth Is thrown
up by a plOuglshare, or more ike Stlll, rs
the foaming water cIrls over beneath the
bows Of a rushing ship. In, yet in, yainly
does the tongue twist It's ends round in
agony like an injured snake, and strive
TO protect its center; still farther in, by
Heaven right through and So amid cheer
after cheer from orr watching thousands,
back again upon the severed ends, beating
them down, driving them a a gale drives
spray till Mt last, amidst the rushing Of
hundreds Of ridcrcSs horses, the flashing
Of swords and the victorious clamOr OF
their pursucrS, the great force crumples
up like an empty glove, then turns ana
GALLONS nell nell for safety tOltS own lines
| do not think it reached them more
than twO-thirdS as strong rs it went out
ten minutes before. The lines which were
now advancing TO the attack opened and
swallowed them up, and my force returned,
having only suffered a loss of about five
hundred men, not much / thought, con
sidrriug the ficrcCnesS of the struggle. !
could also see that the opposing bodies OF
cavalry on our left wing were drawing
back but how the fight went with them |
do not quite know. IL IS as much as can
do to describe what took place Immediate
ly around me.
By this time the dense masses of the
cncmys left composed almost entirely OF
Nnsta swordsm"n, were across the little
stream. and with alternate yelIs of "Nasta-
aud ''SUruS," with dancing banners and
ward us like ants.
Again | received orders to try and check
this movement, and also the main advance
against the chest Of our army, by means OF
cayaIry charge. AMI this did to the best
of my ability. ny cru'inuHllv sending
suirdrou5 % about a tlpuSand sabreS out
against them. THESE SuuplrunS did the
enemy much damage and il was a glorious
sight 10 see thou flash down the hillside
and bury thcmScl o. Ike living kuilc III
the heart of the fox. But. also, we lost
many men. for after the experienced of 3
couple of these charges, which had drawn
sort of bloody 81 Andrew s cross Of dead
and dying through the center of NHstai
host, our foes no longer attempted - uifCi
an unyicldinS front to their Irresistible
y.ci,,bt bu+ onarod ont to LET the rush 90
fbrourh THROWING themselves on the
grounI and LalnStringinr hundreds of
Inr-ns no tLnv messed
Ana en- nni ,yitbgtnn1inr MI tha+ wo
,,,,i,I 10 iI,,' o,o,,,,r Irnv, ncYrrr fiji at
Iagt Ina LnrIoI iimGnIC unon Goods force
II seven thonsond five hundred regulars,
o,b,, ,,,r,, dr,v-n nm IN receive them in
three stronr souarcs About the Same
time too nm aWfuI and heartrcuding roar
told mo TINT thc main battle had closed in
on the center and extreme left. | raised
myself in my stirrups and looked down to
my left; so far as the eye could see there
was n long, dazzling simmer of steel as
L., ,.,,,, ,,,,.,,, FrIIip,r g,ynrI and
thrustinr SPEAR.
TO and fro swung the COntcnding lines
In that dead struggle now giving way,
now gaining a little in the mad yet orderly
confusion of attack and defense. But it
was us much az | could do to keep count
Of what was happening to our own wing;
and rs for the moment the cavalry had
fallen back under cover of Goods three
squares had a fair view Of this.
NaStn's wild sWUrdsmcn We're now break
ing in red waves against the SUllCn. rock
like SQUARES Time after time did they
veil out their War-Crics and hurl them
selves furiousIv against the long, triple
ridges of spear points. only to be rolled
back as pillows are when they meet the
cliff.
And So for fOUr long hours the battle
RACED almost without Il pause, and at the
end Of that time, if we had gained nothing
we had lost nothing. Two attempts to
turn ourIcrt flank hv forcing way through
the wood by which it was protected had
been defeated; and as yet Nasta's swords
men had, notwithstanding their desperate
efforts, entirely failed to break Goods
three squares. though they had Trimmed
thrir Numbers bv quite a third
As for fine chest of the army where Sir
Horny was with his staff and Tmslopo-
ruos II had suffered drraafulIv. but il had
ErI,I rs own with honor and fine Same may
hp soil of nur Iart battle
At last the attack slackcDrd. ana SnraiS'
army ,lr,,v borly HAVING | bnCon Ia think
Ind pnnu,rb Of If ON thf1 Doinf however
| was soon undprriyrd for sDIittinr mn her
c,yaIrv into comnaratfyeIy small snuod-
rn,,s shr charcoal ms furions1y with them
Mi ninnr tLr limo and tben once mora
rolled hrr TONS nf thousands of sword and
snnornrn down rnon nIIr weakened squares
ma snIr1drons. Snrnis herself directinrtho
movement aud fearless rs a lionpss head
in,- the main attack. On they came like
mn avalanche saw her Golden helm
,,Ir,nin,r in thc yon-our countrr-chnrrcs
~ r,,-,lry entirely f,iIin,y IN chrcl, their
r,r,,.rrI Sv-rrn Nov tbcy- hal str1cL, ms
ma ,,,,r cnntpr bnnt in like , how beneath
thn ,,-,Ir,ht of tbnir rIsh-it n,rtnd and
hod pnt Tho tnu tLnusond mon in reserve
r%nrr,I dow, f., lie sI1nnort II mist have
I, 49,, - j,str,,,,1 ~ E,nJss tbrnc
snnnr,S thav ,lrrn svvant backward like
hhots r1non mn inrouiucr tide and the fore
,nnst ,,,,n ,yas hurst intN and lost half its
rnr,ainin,r mon Rut thr effort was foo
f,,rr, nu,i trrrihIn In last Suddenly the
Icy ,,,,, 81, IL ,,-,,,, -, a., t,,rrir,r -n,in+
ana for a minute or two stood still.
Then IL began to move toward SOrais'
Cnlnn. just then, too. NaSta'S fierce and
almost iuvincible Iftghlanders, either be-
cause they were djshcartcncd 10y their